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By Jeff Zrebiec and Jon Machota
Sept. 27, 2026 Updated Sept. 28, 2026 9:41 am CDT
RIO DE JANEIRO — The talk all week revolved around the condition of the field at Maracana Stadium. Then the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens put on a big second-half show that became the story of the day in Brazil.
After the Cowboys tied the game with 7 seconds left on a Brandon Aubrey 23-yard field goal, the Ravens completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers to get to the Dallas 38. Then Tyler Loop nailed a 56-yard field goal as time expired to give Baltimore a 34-31 win.
The Ravens built a 24-13 lead with 3 minutes, 44 seconds left in the third quarter. But Dak Prescott led back-to-back scoring drives for Dallas, with a TD pass to Jake Ferguson and then KaVontae Turpin running it in from the 9. In between those possessions that gave the Cowboys a 28-24 advantage, the Ravens were stopped on fourth down from the Dallas 1 when Derrick Henry was stood up and pushed back.
“I’m disappointed as hell right now because of the pain in that locker room,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said.”This has been a very cool trip, I just wish would’ve come out with a win.”
Lamar Jackson hit tight end Matt Hibner on a 2-yard TD strike to put up the Ravens 31-28 with 1:18 left in the game to set up the wild final minute.
Jackson finished 15 of 20 for 186 yards, two TD passes and 50 rushing yards, while Derrick Henry had two TD runs to lead the Ravens (2-1). Dak Prescott finished 25 of 40 for 276 yards with a TD pass for the Cowboys (1-2).
Ravens stuck with Loop and it pays off
The Ravens said their faith in Loop, their young kicker, never wavered. Not when he missed a 44-yard attempt in Week 18 in Pittsburgh last season to keep the Ravens out of the playoffs. Not when he had a shaky preseason. Not when he had a kick blocked in Week 2. Loop delivered on his team’s faith Sunday. He’ll be the hero of this game and rightly so. “The first of many,” safety Kyle Hamilton said afterward of Loop’s game-winner. But the defense finally got a late stop to keep Dallas out of the end zone and Jackson twice led the offense down the field for fourth-quarter points. For the Ravens to break the fourth-quarter trend of late losses, it took all three phases. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens beat writer
Cowboys can’t let that happen: No moral victory
The Cowboys should not be taking this as any kind of moral victory. There were so many issues in the final 30 seconds. After CeeDee Lamb drew a pass interference call near the goal line, Dallas has to win the game. It’s obvious the offense has to carry the team. That’s easily their strength. The Luke Schoonmaker false start was inexcusable. The way the Ravens’ final play was defended was inexcusable. The Cowboys blew an incredible opportunity to be 2-1 and get a huge win to build off. Now, they have to think about all of the mistakes that were made late while sitting on a 10-hour flight.
Was the field as bad as everyone thought it would be?
For all of the talk about the field conditions, it didn’t appear, at least from the vantage point of the media press box, to be a huge factor. There were a handful of instances of players falling down and Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers, in particular, seemed to have issues keeping his feet a few times. However, the field at Maracana Stadium held up pretty well. The NFL listened to gloom-and-doom scenarios all week about the field conditions. NFL Field Director Nick Pappas downplayed them, insisting the field would be ready for its closeup. He was right. He has a thankless job, so kudos to him and his staff that the field was a prevailing storyline leading into the game, not exiting it. — Zrebiec
I thought the field actually held up pretty well. There was some slipping by receivers but not as bad as it could have been. I think the biggest factor was that it didn’t rain. Had that happened, which has been the case often in Rio recently, it might have been a completely different story. It will be interesting to hear from the players about any potential changes they made to their cleats during the game. Even though it didn’t seem bad to those of us watching, it could’ve been a bigger issue on the field. — Machota
Sept. 27, 2026 Updated Sept. 28, 2026 9:41 am CDT
RIO DE JANEIRO — The talk all week revolved around the condition of the field at Maracana Stadium. Then the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens put on a big second-half show that became the story of the day in Brazil.
After the Cowboys tied the game with 7 seconds left on a Brandon Aubrey 23-yard field goal, the Ravens completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers to get to the Dallas 38. Then Tyler Loop nailed a 56-yard field goal as time expired to give Baltimore a 34-31 win.
The Ravens built a 24-13 lead with 3 minutes, 44 seconds left in the third quarter. But Dak Prescott led back-to-back scoring drives for Dallas, with a TD pass to Jake Ferguson and then KaVontae Turpin running it in from the 9. In between those possessions that gave the Cowboys a 28-24 advantage, the Ravens were stopped on fourth down from the Dallas 1 when Derrick Henry was stood up and pushed back.
“I’m disappointed as hell right now because of the pain in that locker room,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said.”This has been a very cool trip, I just wish would’ve come out with a win.”
Lamar Jackson hit tight end Matt Hibner on a 2-yard TD strike to put up the Ravens 31-28 with 1:18 left in the game to set up the wild final minute.
Jackson finished 15 of 20 for 186 yards, two TD passes and 50 rushing yards, while Derrick Henry had two TD runs to lead the Ravens (2-1). Dak Prescott finished 25 of 40 for 276 yards with a TD pass for the Cowboys (1-2).
Ravens stuck with Loop and it pays off
The Ravens said their faith in Loop, their young kicker, never wavered. Not when he missed a 44-yard attempt in Week 18 in Pittsburgh last season to keep the Ravens out of the playoffs. Not when he had a shaky preseason. Not when he had a kick blocked in Week 2. Loop delivered on his team’s faith Sunday. He’ll be the hero of this game and rightly so. “The first of many,” safety Kyle Hamilton said afterward of Loop’s game-winner. But the defense finally got a late stop to keep Dallas out of the end zone and Jackson twice led the offense down the field for fourth-quarter points. For the Ravens to break the fourth-quarter trend of late losses, it took all three phases. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens beat writer
Cowboys can’t let that happen: No moral victory
The Cowboys should not be taking this as any kind of moral victory. There were so many issues in the final 30 seconds. After CeeDee Lamb drew a pass interference call near the goal line, Dallas has to win the game. It’s obvious the offense has to carry the team. That’s easily their strength. The Luke Schoonmaker false start was inexcusable. The way the Ravens’ final play was defended was inexcusable. The Cowboys blew an incredible opportunity to be 2-1 and get a huge win to build off. Now, they have to think about all of the mistakes that were made late while sitting on a 10-hour flight.
Was the field as bad as everyone thought it would be?
For all of the talk about the field conditions, it didn’t appear, at least from the vantage point of the media press box, to be a huge factor. There were a handful of instances of players falling down and Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers, in particular, seemed to have issues keeping his feet a few times. However, the field at Maracana Stadium held up pretty well. The NFL listened to gloom-and-doom scenarios all week about the field conditions. NFL Field Director Nick Pappas downplayed them, insisting the field would be ready for its closeup. He was right. He has a thankless job, so kudos to him and his staff that the field was a prevailing storyline leading into the game, not exiting it. — Zrebiec
I thought the field actually held up pretty well. There was some slipping by receivers but not as bad as it could have been. I think the biggest factor was that it didn’t rain. Had that happened, which has been the case often in Rio recently, it might have been a completely different story. It will be interesting to hear from the players about any potential changes they made to their cleats during the game. Even though it didn’t seem bad to those of us watching, it could’ve been a bigger issue on the field. — Machota